2018 ENGAGE

Melissa and Mercedes Baker grew up on a cattle ranch in the hills of Napa Valley, CA. Isolated from town and media, they spent their spare time drawing, writing, and turning old dusty hay barns into palaces of their imagination. They never stopped. Their current studio, a 1920’s hay barn as described in “American Art Collector,” May 2015 is “ A 6 acre ranch in the sticks with hundred year old houses, trees, rusty cars, fields, a gypsy wagon, a river, and an abundance of talented artists. It's where community is luxury and creativity is treasure."

In his most recent series titled 'Textured 'Paintings,' Jonah reinterprets the idea of what traditionally defines a painting or drawing. Rectangular pieces of madrone tree bark, leaves and paper from bald faced hornet's nests are separately adhered to wood canvases in a patchwork pattern, resulting in painting-like forms containing a richness and depth only matched by other natural occurring colors, textures and materials. Jonah sees the components of these works as something that simply needs to be discovered, picked up off the ground, given a little time and energy, transformed and displayed them in a way people have never seen.

"Art is remedy, poking and prodding the narcissism of censorship and the status quo of 'accepted’ thought."My first foray into the arts occurred in the third grade at the age of seven as I watched the TV show Peter Gunn. It was that soundtrack, by Henri Mancini, with such songs as Sorta Blue, Dreamsville and of course the theme song of Peter Gunn with its incredible alto saxophone solo that got my attention. My dream was born, to be able to play that scream’in alto saxophone solo and live my life as an artist bathed in creativity,expression and improvisation. That for me, defines the world of the arts.

Debbie's Fermentation Tank Series is just one aspect of her photography where she uses many cameras & lenses with a tripod. Often using long exposures from a few seconds to 30 minutes Debbie often employs light painting and finishes by printing on metal. She says, "the first fermentation tank shots I did were on my i-phone and I have made a book about my process and story that will be on display at ENGAGE.

The images of the Asian Textures and Sacred Landscape series capture the relationship of nature and spirituality. I go out into nature, to ancient sacred sites, and search for the root connections of humans and nature and spirituality. I search for archetypal images of regeneration and rebirth. The sacred architecture of temples and tombs was designed to hold and enhance the rituals of living and dying of the communities who built the structures. These rituals connect a human society to its history and lineage. I am very interested in how this sacred architecture weathers time and the environment, and how the structures become integrated into the environment, establishing a vast sacred landscape

Building on a life-long passion for painting, I work in the Art Department of Mills College with special guidance from Professor Yulia Pinkusevich and Emerita Professor Hung Liu. My abstract paintings explore a wide variety of surfaces, media, and textures, in an attempt to capture traces that communicate life’s meaning. My work is influenced by a number of sources including Paul Rotterdam, Harvey Quaytman, Agnes Martin, and Franz Klein. My recent efforts have been focusing on painting with ink/charcoal/graphite, and acrylic and oil.

NBC Pottery is located in the small town of Angwin in the mountains just above St. Helena. Husband and wife team Will and Nikki Callnan specialize in custom made wares with an organic edge and rustic flare. Will and Nikki regularly work in collaboration with their clients to create one-of-a-kind designs, including plates, platters, bowls, cups, mugs, pitchers trays, vases and more.

Sonia Lub is committed to designing & hand-making jewelry that is original, beautiful, meaningful, and of the highest quality, guaranteed to provide long lasting beauty and durability.I carefully hand select all of my ingredients, and incorporate salvaged & recycled material in many of my pieces. All of my jewelry is handcrafted in my studio in Napa Valley, California.

Simone McManus - Fiber

I love colors and textures! Creating art and craft has always been a big part of my life. At an early age, my grandmother taught me to knit. I grew up sewing and knitting my own wardrobe. Later, I learnt the art of mosaic- that’s where I discovered playing with colors making sculptures from broken ceramics. A few years ago, I took classes in basket weaving which soon led to textile weaving. I like combining different materials using colorful free-form techniques. My loom is where I weave my stories, where I play with colors. I reside with my husband in Napa Valley, California.

Colleen Blinoff - Jewelry

"I use 18k gold and sterling and fine silver with precious and semi-precious stones in all of my jewelry." Colleen has always been drawn to stones for their influence on energy. She loves the interplay of precious gold and silver together, to create fanciful one of a kind pieces that are influenced by colorful and purposefully selected gemstones. All of her jewelry is hand forged and fabricated, so no two can be exactly alike.

Relics Reborn - I truly create one of a kind pieces that won't be found anywhere else. Acquiring copious amounts of barn wood as well as architectural elements from around the world to create what you see today. It is an enjoyable and arduous task, but it allows me to relive the past while giving it life.

Alexia Viola Artisan Jewelry began with a strand of tiny, blue sapphires I brought back from India. I discovered them during a trip to explore women's stories (including my own as it turned out.) That strand of tiny gemstones, purchased on a whim with no real intention, gave birth to a line of handmade jewelry inspired by what our stories are often inspired by - a sense of place. It didn't end up being about the place I was visiting, as much as it was about the place I'd been calling home for a long time - California. Myriad cultures, personalities and even micro-climates live together in this big, beautiful state, and we all seem to share a lifestyle aesthetic that's effortlessly stylish, fresh and individual, and a little bohemian.

The Cornhole Series Blends Film Noir, street art, and the backyard college game of cornhole into a sophisticated look at contemporary Pop Art Americana. Cult classic film references mixed with text related to the film or actor depicted invoke humor while addressing life, sport, and performance on a larger stage. Nate Geare grew up in Napa CA. He spent a large part of his youth watching movies or tinkering in his father’s wood shop/ garage. Nate left Napa in pursuit of a career in illustration and animation but fine art quickly took over as the ultimate path. Nate discovered Cornhole, or Bags, at UCLA, where he earned his art degree in 2008.

Trait de Genie Art - French for "stroke of genius". My objective is to captivate your visual palette with pop, vintage and spontaneous realism artwork. Jermaine’s innovative use of color compounding presents subdued, but often bold and strikingly larger than life figures that lend to the intrigue and complexity of his paintings. “Everything you can imagine is real,” wrote Pablo Picasso and Jermaine’s work is the epitome of that philosophy.

My photographs bring together much of my love for the early 20th century artists who experimented with surrealism and abstraction, as well as the avant-garde photographers of the early 1920s and 30s. My current explorations into abstract photography have been directly influenced by the inspirational works of harry Callahan and Minor White.

"He has been in misery for so long that he cannot recall why, but the turmoil within grows slowly and begins to consume him. Tormented from within, agonized by the person he has become, he wears his pain on his face for the world to see; the reflection in the mirror is no longer his own. Will he find peace in his pain or will it dominate until there is nothing left?"

"Focusing on artists who have suffered from addiction, I feel that immortalizing them in glitter is a beautiful juxtaposition of the glitzy, glamour and fame they were forced to endure that inevitably led them toward a darker path."

I create exquisite one-of-a-kind jewelry. Each piece is meticulously hand forged using old world techniques, precious metals, genuine gemstones and unusual material like concrete. This is wearable art.

"I have a desire to move people, be it through art or environments. It is my goal to help create a space that the client can be touched throughout time with intimate details within a painting and the painting itself yields its own tension within a space, giving and releasing. "

Deirdre's ARTDELAFEMME is dedicated to the beauty, strength, and sensuality of women. Art critic Brian Sherwin, Editor of The Art Edge, commented on Deirdre's paintings. Sherwin said, "Artist Deirdre Shibano's plein air paintings are marked by an alluring sense of calm. Her work invites viewers to take a step back in order to appreciate the intrinsic beauty of nature. This wonderful sense of calm is carried over when Deirdre explores the human figure -- her figure paintings offer a point of introspection. Her body of work is simply a joy to observe."

Svetlana Kolesnikova - Painting

Svetlana's work is an exposition of emotion.

Inspired by the beauty and the complexity of female inner strength, she uses her art as a medium to journey away from thought into the realm of feeling and intuition. Using her art as a medium to evolve personal perspective on love, body, and spirit, her mission is to bring out the depth of female emotion and inspire a daring connection to the self.

Ana was born in Bolivia, South America. She Immigrated to the U.S.at an early age. Creativity has always been a driving passion in her life. She is constantly exploring the magic of color, variety of media, acrylics, oils, encaustic wax, watercolor, collage and always seeking new ways of communicating her emotions to the mysterious journey of life. Ana feels that the true work of art is born from the artist.

Mostly a self taught artist, she was born and raised in Columbia. She has lived in San Francisco since 1996 with her husband, Michael. Travelling in the American Southwest, expanded her artistic expression to include free form and hand thrown ceramics. Her current focus is on painting, particularly acrylics touching upon the organic and spiritual and have been influenced by indigenous cultures where ever she has lived or visited.

Hugo Corro - Drawing

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ÆRENA Galleries and Gardens

Hammond is a self-taught painter whose paintings utilize pop culture through symbols, writing, and recognizable figures in order to create light-hearted paintings. Hammond’s artworks evoke graphic design, and the pop art of the 1980’s. Hammond currently works in Sonoma and Santa Barbara. ÆRENA Galleries and Gardens is pleased to present this emerging artist to our collectors and community.

Lisa Ledson’s energy-filled abstract paintings reflect forces of the natural world and draw inspiration from creative forms of self-expression. She attributes her artistic inclination to her exposure of both the visual and performing arts from a very early age. Trained extensively in ballet, Ledson’s sense of movement is an intrinsic part of her practice.